Just Wait
by kinokokichigai
Summary: Just wait, and it will come. Hinata is found.


**Just Wait**

-by kinokokichigai

---

_If ever you are feeling like you're tired_

_And all your uphill struggles leave you headed downhill_

_If you realize your wildest dreams can hurt you_

_And your appetite for pain has drunken its fill_

_I ask of you a very simple question_

_Did you think for one minute that you are alone?_

_And is your suffering a privilege you share only,_

_Or did you think that everybody else feels completely at home?_

_-_

_Blues Traveler, from the album 'Four'_

---

He was not a loud man.

No one in his family was, really. Even his mother, who had married into the Aburame Clan, had quickly learned the serious, silent lifestyle quickly. Young children were often rambunctious, but that was soon dampened as they grew, as their schoolmates soon discovered the 'blessing' of the Kikai bugs.

But now, as he sat by her hospital bed, he felt he had to say something.

-

She was not a loud woman.

Not many people in her family were, really. There was her cousin, with his cold, all-seeing eyes---her little sister was the same way, almost. There was her father, and the clan elders, who looked down on her with unpitying white eyes, knowing that she was unfit to lead the clan. Even children became attuned to the tensions of the Hyuuga household, and were quiet and cold much of the time.

She had been innocent once, but that was no more.

-

He had found her first, face-down in the field, empty salve jars by her body. His Kikai had informed him of a dying human in the area as he went bug-collecting, and so he had walked quickly over to the place that his insects had been pointing him to.

When he saw her familiar form lying in the springy green grass, he broke into a run, abandoning all thoughts of collecting insects.

The man drew a kunai across the woman's skin, instructing some of his bugs to enter her body and take the poison out. As they did their work, the black-haired man picked her up as carefully as he could, and ran towards the Konoha Hospital.

-

She had taken the poisons willingly, they had said. Her body would be fine, but her mind was a completely different issue.

Her father scowled when he heard this. This would be the last straw-the clan couldn't tolerate any more weakness from the heir. Hanabi would be named as the successor of the Hyuuga.

She was his daughter, but the preservation of the clan was much more worrying.

-

Her friends were dumbstruck when they heard the news, saying that they had no clue why she would do it.

That was, until a certain yellow-haired man piped up. He had turned her down, saying he didn't want to court her. He said that she hadn't cried, just smiled sadly, bowed, and left.

-

The bug user asked her cousin about it. He simply scowled, and said that she had had a rough training session that day with her sister and him.

-

So now the black-haired man sat by her bedside, silently willing her to open her eyes. She did not deserve a death such as this. She should die a peaceful death.

_You still have so much to live for_, he thought. _Don't you dare give up now._

He remembered her practicing in the very field he had found her in, her white eyes shining with joy as she perfectly accomplished her new jutsu.

_Just wait, _he thought to himself, to her, wishing she could hear him. _Just wait, and it will come. _

It was then that she opened her eyes, lavender-tinted irises looking around the room wildly. The bug wielder opened his mouth to speak.

"Hinata…" he said, not knowing what to say. Then an idea came to him---it was relatively simple, but, hopefully, it would work.

Her head swung towards him, tear streaks straining her face. "Yes, Shino?"

A sad smile crossed his face as he lowered his collar and took of his sunglasses.

"Let's talk."

---

_If you think I've given up on you you're crazy_

_And if you think I don't love you well then you're just wrong_

_In time you just might take to feeling better_

_Time is the beauty of the road being long_

_I know that now you feel no consolation_

_But maybe if I told you and informed you out loud_

_I say this without fear of hesitation_

_I can honestly tell you that you make me proud_

_-_

_Blues Traveler, from the album 'Four'_

---

I seem to write a lot about these two being silent, ne? Ah well. At least this fic's got a positive ending.


End file.
